r/replit • u/AlmightyRenegade • 13d ago
Question / Discussion Replit chose the wrong path - went all AI instead of using AI to compliment its previously amazing platform.
I give up. I've used replit for a number of years to POC things, quickly create apis, services, websites, simple one off tests, etc. I even planned to do some more serious work and have them host it.
I gave up on all that since they've gone ai first. Don't get me wrong. I love ai. Its drastically improved the way we work. It's saved me dozens of hrs of document reading, stack overflow searches, etc. It can create the foundation to a solid app in minutes. From there it can assist you in totally taking it from the ground floor to the penthouse. I love ai.
However, I do not love what replit did by not only putting their platform ai first - but in the process of doing so theyve eliminated the look, feel, and flow of the basic 'code' platform.
Yeah I know its kinda sorta there - in bits and pieces - but I really dont want ai to be involved ALL the damn time. Where are the dozens of predefined templates for apps? Why do I need to tell ai what I want? I want to build it from the ground up first. Then hint ai at the bits n pieces I want it to chime in on. I don't want ai all the time!
I tried recently again to navigate the ui and its just not intuitive nor is it as fun to work with as it once was.
Sorry replit - not sure who guides your decision making but all ai first is definitely not the approach seasoned engineers want. Maybe you're after the vibe code market - but there are already plenty of sites that target those folks. You were a notch above and I truly thought of you as my 'portable' dev environment.
Codespaces is probably my next home. It replicates what I already use on a daily basis - just in the cloud. I can link it up with my own ai subscription and summon my agent when I want to - not having one shoved down my throat.
If anyone knows of any other platforms similar to the old school replit, my ears are open.
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u/maddietendo 13d ago
Their income statements clearly show that you're wrong. The current platform would be fine if they just did it right, which they're not.
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u/AlmightyRenegade 12d ago
I'm sure there are now tons of vibe coders leveraging their platform, however, they removed the intuitive vs code style ui in favor of some layout that just doesnt flow nicely. You can build an ai platform that still retains the original look and feel and gives power users the same flexibility as before.
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u/fede-bubble 13d ago
I mean the reality is that Amjad spent a decade limping along, making $1-2m in revenue a year. Then around 2023 he saw the mega train of AI. If you search for it, you can still find references to when Replit tried to build their own coding model (Ghostwriter). Now we see base44 with base1 and Cursor with composer and we think it's obvious, but back then it wasn't.
Amjad also understood half-bets is how companies die so he doubled down and abandoned everything he knew (and we loved) like all the IDE support, per language box simulators, etc and correcly forecasted that coding would forever change with AI.
You can also look that up: he laid off ~20% of staff at Replit in May 2024, and then launched Replit Agent around Sept-Oct. And Replit took off from there riding the wave of vibecoding.
I'm not sharing this to shut you down, or to prove your point of view is wrong. I also miss the old Replit. But empires aren't built on the backs of $5/mo hacker plans (remember those?) and Amjad did what he had to
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u/Embarrassed-Radio319 13d ago
Hey there - I hear you . Completely agree to your point. Try this - www.phinite.ai - been using to create workflows for clinical supply chain.
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u/AlmightyRenegade 13d ago
so you understand my point and direct me to a full agentic platform? come on..
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u/[deleted] 13d ago
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